Growth vs. level effect of population change on economic development: An inspection into human-capital-related mechanisms

This paper studies the different mechanisms and the dynamics through which demography is channeled to the economy. We analyze the role of demographic changes in the economic development process by studying the transitional and the long-run impact of both the rate of population growth and the initial population size on the levels of per capita human capital and income. We do that in an enlarged Lucas–Uzawa model with intergenerational altruism. In contrast to the existing theoretical literature, the long-run level effects of demographic changes, i.e. their impact on the levels of the variables along the balanced growth path, are deeply characterized in addition to the more standard long-run growth effects. We prove that the level effect of the population rate of growth is non-negative (positive in the empirically most relevant case) for the average level of human capital, but a priori ambiguous for the level of per capita income due to the interaction of three transmission mechanisms of demographic shocks, a standard one (dilution) and two non-standard (altruism and human capital accumulation). Overall, the sign of the level effects of population growth depends on preference and technology parameters, but numerically we show that the joint negative effect of dilution and altruism is always stronger than the induced positive human capital effect. The growth effect of population growth depends basically on the attitude to intergenerational altruism and intertemporal substitution. Moreover, we also prove that the long-run level effects of population size on per capita human capital and income may be negative, nil, or positive, depending on the relationship between preferences and technology, while its growth effect is zero. Finally, we show that the model is able to replicate complicated time relationships between economic and demographic changes. In particular, it entails a negative effect of population growth on per capita income, which dominates in the initial periods, and a positive effect which restores a positive correlation between population growth and economic performance in the long term.     

Investment in Fixed Capital Stock: Testing for the Impact of Sectoral and Systemic Uncertainty*

This paper applies current theory recognizing the irreversibility of investment, in order to test for the impact of uncertainty on investment expenditure for a middle income country. The contribution of the paper is unique in two respects. First, it employs dynamic heterogeneous panel estimation techniques not previously applied to investment functions. Secondly, it explicitly tests for the impact of both sectoral and systemic uncertainty on investment expenditure. We find that both sectoral (as measured by output volatility) and systemic uncertainty (as measured by political instability) have a negative impact on investment rates in a middle income country context. Liquidity constraints and growth in total factor productivity are found to have no impact on investment, while trade liberalization has the impact predicted by Heckscher‐Ohlin trade theory. Finally, we find complementarity effects between physical capital and skilled human capital, suggesting that South African educational policies may have hampered investment in physical capital as well as the growth performance of the economy. Policy implications emphasize the importance of lowering uncertainty for investors, and the need for sound human capital investment.     

资本投入对我国经济增长的影响——基于拓展的MRW框架的分析

本文基于同时包含物质资本、教育资本、健康资本和R&D资本的拓展的MRW框架,根据我国31个省(市、自治区)1998~2007年的数据,考察了资本投入对我国人均实际产出以及经济增长的影响。研究发现,物质资本投资、教育投资和R&D投资对我国人均实际产出以及经济增长具有显著的促进作用,健康投资对产出水平有显著的促进作用,但对经济增长的影响不显著。在此基础上,本文估算了我国总量的生产函数以及资本投资的回报率。此外,本文还将全要素生产率内生化,进一步考察了资本投入对我国人均实际产出与经济增长的影响。     

要素配置、收入差距与经济增长的实证研究

本文基于要素配置的动态性和路径选择性构建模型,测算无劳动力、资本错配下的收入差距,并且实证研究要素错配对收入差距与经济增长关系的影响。研究结果表明：与实际状态相比,无要素错配状态下地区间收入差距变小,意味着要素错配恶化了地区间收入差距;要素错配加剧收入差距对经济增长的阻碍作用,如2016年由于要素错配的存在,收入差距对经济增长的阻碍效应提高20.5%,且整体上引起经济增长缺口达到4.6%;较高的收入差距对人力资本、物质资本和人均消费均有显著的阻碍作用,而要素错配又加剧这种阻碍效应,提高对经济增长的负面效果。     

我国人力资本地区分布差异与经济增长差异同步性分析

许多研究表明,区域人力资本对区域经济增长具有正面的影响,并且人力资本对经济增长的贡献远远大于物质资本的作用[1][2]。这些都能表明,人力资本能促进经济增长,是经济增长的主要动力之一,其对经济增长的作用正在不断加强[3][4]。本文通过构建人力资本模型对我国人力资本地区分布差异与经济增长差异进行同步性分析,得出我国人力资本地区分布差异与经济增长差异存在一定程度上的同步性这一结论。     

Technological Change and Transition: Relative Contributions to Worldwide Growth During the 1990s*

In this paper we use the Kumar and Russell [American Economic Review (2002) Vol. 92, pp. 527–548] growth‐accounting procedure to examine cross‐country growth during the 1990s. Using a data set comprising developed, newly industrialized, developing and transitional economies, we decompose the growth of output per worker into components attributable to technological catch‐up, technological change and capital accumulation. In contrast to the study by Kumar and Russell, which concludes that capital deepening is the major force of growth and change in the world income per worker distribution over the 1965–90 period, our analysis shows that, during the 1990s, the major force in the further divergence of the rich and the poor is due to technological change, whereas capital accumulation plays a lesser and opposite role. Finally, although on average we find that transitional economies perform similar to the rest of the world, the procedure is able to discover some interesting patterns within the set of transitional countries.     

The business cycle human capital accumulation nexus and its effect on hours worked volatility

This paper studies hours worked volatility and the cyclicality of human capital investments by embedding a Ben-Porath life-cycle model of human capital accumulation into an RBC setting. Agents differ across two dimensions: age and productivity in learning. Our results show that individuals invest more in human capital during economic downturns. However, human capital accumulation is more counter-cyclical for young and low-productivity individuals because they face a lower opportunity cost of education and a higher marginal product of human capital. These results are confirmed empirically using US data from the Current Population Survey and the American Time Use Survey. In addition, the paper contributes to the RBC literature by showing that the model׳s business cycle properties, in particular hours worked volatility, are sensitive to assumptions of heterogeneity. Introducing heterogeneity in productivity increases the volatility of aggregate hours worked and changes the life-cycle profile for hours volatility to better match the data.     

Contribution of female human capital in economic growth: an empirical analysis of Pakistan (1972–2012)

This study is to find out an impact of female human capital on economic growth of Pakistan. The study has therefore, used gender separate human capital as an explanatory variable along with other factors, labor force and physical capital. In this regard a composite human capital has been constructed by taking education and health as a proxy for human capital. The long run and short run dynamics among female human capital and economic growth are empirically tested on time series data spread from 1972–2012. Johanson’s co-integration approach has been applied for the long run and Vector Error Correction Model used for the short run relationship. The results show that the long run relationship between female human capital and economic growth is positive and significant. While the short run impact of female human capital on economic growth is positive but statistically insignificant.     

Stock markets,banks and the sources of economic growth in low and high income countries

This paper studies the effects of stock markets and banks on the sources of economic growth, productivity and capital accumulation, using a large cross country panel that includes high- and low-income countries. Results show that, in low-income countries, banks have a sizable positive effect on capital accumulation. We find that stock markets, however, have not contributed to capital accumulation or productivity growth in these countries. Given the emphasis that has been placed in developing equity markets in developing countries, these findings are somewhat surprising. Conversely, in high-income countries, stock markets are found to have sizable positive effects on both productivity and capital growth, while banks only affect capital accumulation.     

Impact of financial development on SAARC’S human development

The objective of the study is to investigate the link between economic growth and financial development (i.e., broad money supply, credit to private sector (CPS) and bank deposit liabilities) in human development for a panel of selected South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries; namely, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka during 1988–2008; over the period of 1988–2008. The panel cointegration technique is employed for analysis of short and long-run relationship between the variables. The results of panel cointegration found that there is a long-run relationship between financial development indicators and economic growth in human development in SAARC region. The estimated results indicate that in the short run, bank deposit liabilities exerts the maximum impact (i.e., 0.425 %) on human development in SAARC region, subsequently, broad money supply (i.e., 0.301 %) and CPS (i.e., 0.128 %) respectively, while there is a negative relationship between real GDP growth and human capital (i.e., \(-\) 0.189 %). In the long-run, DOLS estimator constitutes broad money supply which increases by 0.912 %, followed by credit to private sector (i.e., 0.121 %) on human development. While, in case of FMOLS estimator, these results are disappear, as broad money supply does not have any significant impact on human development in SAARC region. The coefficient of real GDP per capita in both estimators, have a negative impact on human development, however, the intensity of both estimators are different in nature, as real GDP per capita decrease human development in FMOLS (i.e., \(-\) 0.828 %) and in DOLS estimators (i.e., 0.458 %). The results indicate that due to a low quality of human capital in SAARC region; the direct effect of economic growth becomes negative; however, financial development indicators act as an important driver for increase in human capital in SAARC region. The implications of present research relate to heightening the need for labor market reforms and making the educational system more flexible.     

Macroeconomic effects of aggregate accounting conservatism: A cross‐country analysis

This paper examines whether aggregate conditional and unconditional conservatism are associated with economic growth. Prior studies find that conditional conservatism improves contracting efficiency, but that unconditional conservatism has either a neutral or detrimental impact on contracting. We therefore conjecture that country‐level conditional conservatism increases the efficiency of resource allocation in an economy, whereas country‐level unconditional conservatism is not similarly beneficial. Using a cross‐country sample, we construct country‐level estimates of conditional and unconditional conservatism. We find that conditional conservatism is associated with higher level of growth in Gross Domestic Product and Gross Domestic Product per Capita. By contrast, unconditional conservatism shows no or negative association. Our study contributes to the ongoing debate on the desirability of accounting conservatism and also extends the literature on the macroeconomic effects of aggregate financial reporting attributes.     

Impact of economic growth volatility on income inequality: ASEAN experience

The study attempts to examine the symmetric and the asymmetric impact of volatility of economic growth on the inequality of income in the major ASEAN economies over the period 1980–2015. Financial development, trade openness as a proxy of globalization, inflation, human capital formation, and fiscal policy are utilized as major control variables. The paper tries to explore the causal association between inequality of income distribution and economic growth volatility, exploring simultaneously the long-run association and the short-run dynamics in the time series structure. The study applied Clemente–Montanes–Reyes unit root test to identify the structural break in the time series. Further, the cointegrating relationship of the time series observations was explored by applying the ARDL (linear) bounds test approach along with the nonlinear ARDL for making fruitful comparisons in the long-run relationship among the variables. The countries chosen are Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore and The Philippines. The empirical findings strongly suggest a long-run cointegrating relationship between income inequality and growth volatility with a positive and statistically significant impact. Also, the causality analysis was explored using the Toda and Yamamoto (1995) method of Granger causality. The causality test shows that there exists bidirectional causality from inequality transmission to economic growth volatility. The implications that are developed from this study helps us to understand the various policy reforms in the ASEAN region, that are more transparent and can make these economies less susceptible to risks.     

人力资本与基础设施投资的动力学分析

本文将公共支出引入一个两部门城市化和内生增长模型,由模型导出的人力资本跨时转移条件方便我们分析经济的过渡动力学行为。数值解结果表明,在物质资本报酬递减的情形下,公共支出的部门间配置由经济过渡动力内在地确定和稳定;如果物质资本表现出某种程度的报酬递增,公共支出的部门间配置将表现出内在不稳定。动力学分析表明,公共支出与经济增长之间存在非线性关系,换言之,存在促进经济增长的最优税率或最优公共支出比例。     

人力资本积聚差异的区域经济增长影响力研究——以浙江和陕西两省为例

从目前大部分的学术成果来看,区域经济发展差异的理论和实证主要集中在物质资本的投入和形成以及无形的制度创新方面;而人力资本对经济增长的影响研究方面,现有的成果也主要集中在教育投资对经济增长的影响方面。本文从区域经济增长和人力资本积聚的角度出发,以浙江省和陕西省的实际数据为例,通过计量经济模型对人力资本积聚水平和区域经济发展之间的关系进行了数据分析和理论分析。     

Nonparametric methods and local‐time‐based estimation for dynamic power law distributions

This paper introduces nonparametric econometric methods that characterize general power law distributions under basic stability conditions. These methods extend the literature on power laws in the social sciences in several directions. First, we show that any stationary distribution in a random growth setting is shaped entirely by two factors: the idiosyncratic volatilities and reversion rates (a measure of cross‐sectional mean reversion) for different ranks in the distribution. This result is valid regardless of how growth rates and volatilities vary across different economic agents, and hence applies to Gibrat's law and its extensions. Second, we present techniques to estimate these two factors using panel data. Third, we describe how our results imply predictability as higher‐ranked processes must on average grow more slowly than lower‐ranked processes. We employ our empirical methods using data on commodity prices and show that our techniques accurately describe the empirical distribution of relative commodity prices. We also show that rank‐based out‐of‐sample forecasts of future commodity prices outperform random‐walk forecasts at a 1‐month horizon.     

Heterogeneity in social values and capital accumulation in a changing world

In a society characterized by a multitude of heterogeneous agents and a large number of possibly immaterial goods, each one having distinct social and personal values, we study the impact of these relative values on intergenerational capital accumulation, as a function of economic and social parameters such as capital mobility, productivity and personal and social values discrepancies. Each agent is modelled by a one-period production function and a two-period intertemporal utility. Agents live, produce and consume over one period, but optimize over two periods, so providing a remaining stock of goods for the next generation. This creates a dynamics in capital accumulation depending on social and individual values. A threshold appears in capital stock accumulation that depends on personal and social values’ volatilities, and below which the initial stock will be depleted. Whereas volatility in social values increases the threshold, impairing capital accumulation, adverse shocks in goods’ values may reverse the dynamics of the accumulation process. Finally, capital mobility specifically favors forerunners, but capital accumulation in one or several sectors may shift social values in their direction, at the expense of other sectors.

     

金融发展、FDI技术溢出与中国经济增长——基于省际面板数据的实证分析

基于1990年-2008年中国省际面板数据,就金融发展水平决定的FDI溢出效应对中国经济增长影响的实证研究表明,样本期内FDI通过其资本积累效应,对中国经济增长产生了显著的促进作用,且这一作用有随时间而强化的趋势;金融发展具有放大FDI技术溢出效应的作用,并由此对中国经济增长产生正面影响,但目前来看这一影响还比较小;"金融抑制"现象依然存在并对中国经济增长产生了不利影响,但在经历了多年的金融体制改革之后,"金融抑制"现象已有所减轻,其对经济增长的负面影响趋于减弱。     

Education,economic growth,and brain drain

This paper constructs a two-sector overlapping-generations model of endogenous growth to study the effects of brain drain on growth, education and income distribution. It is shown that brain drain reduces the economic growth rate and generally hurts the non-emigrants through the static income-distributional effects and the dynamic damage on economic growth and human capital accumulation. If the initial rate of human capital accumulation is relatively low, brain drain could deteriorate both the sum of discounted income and lifetime discounted utility of a representative non-emigrant. The government can choose to spend more on education to lessen the detrimental growth effects of brain drain.     

Extremal Dependence in International Output Growth: Tales from the Tails

This article explores the comovement of the economic activity of several OECD countries during periods of large negative and positive growth. Extremal dependence measures are here applied to assess the degree of cross‐country tail dependence of output growth rates. Our main empirical findings are: (i) cross‐country tail dependence is much stronger during periods of large negative growth, than during the ones of large positive growth; (ii) cross‐country growth is asymptotically independent; (iii) cross‐country tail dependence is considerably stronger than the one arising from a Gaussian dependence model. In addition, our results suggest that, among the typical determinants for explaining international output growth synchronization, only economic specialization similarity seems to play a role during such extreme periods.     

A cointegration approach to modeling human capital formation,self-employment,and economic growth: evidence from Pakistan

This study aims to empirically investigate the dynamics of relationship among human capital formation, self-employment (SE), and economic growth in Pakistan. Using quarterly data of primary school enrollment, SE, and GDP per capita, we employed ARDL bound testing approach to cointegration covering the time span of 1995–2010. We found that in the long run, primary school enrollment, high school enrollment and SE have significant impact on economic growth. Enrollment in primary schools (EP) has a strong positive and significant impact on economic growth, whereas enrollment in high school has a relatively small positive and significant impact on economic growth in the long run in Pakistan. Further, SE has a small, positive and significant impact on economic growth in the long run. In short run, enrollments in high schools and SE have weak positive impact on economic growth whereas, EP has a strong positive and significant impact on economic growth in Pakistan. Further it is found that that there is unidirectional long run causality from self employment to economic growth followed by the bidirectional short run causality between economic growth and high school enrollment, GDP per capita and primary school enrollment, high school enrollment and primary school enrollment.